I've been thinking, writing about love... romantic
love, is one of the most difficult things to write about and write about well.
Ok I've got two characters, Alice and Joseph. They've been married for 3 years, but together for 5.
Ok I've got two characters, Alice and Joseph. They've been married for 3 years, but together for 5.
So what next?
Does Alice come home to find Jo reclining gracefully infront of a coal fire swirling red wine in a crystal glass, beckoning her over to him with that seductive glint in his eyes that she knows so well and that made her fall in love with him that summers day in that meadow surrounded by those wildflowers? No.
Why not? Because people can't relate to that. I know people who fell in love because they were drunk one night at the same houseparty, because they worked in the same warehouse, went to the same school, through the lonely hearts column. No meadows there.
I fell in love because it was the last night of the play that i directed, and i was sad and drunk, and there was only person who's solution to the problem was to cuddle me, and that was the Assistant Stage Manager, who i'd held a grudge against for months because he said he didn't like my Eagles Of Death Metal T-shirt.
Why not? Because people can't relate to that. I know people who fell in love because they were drunk one night at the same houseparty, because they worked in the same warehouse, went to the same school, through the lonely hearts column. No meadows there.
I fell in love because it was the last night of the play that i directed, and i was sad and drunk, and there was only person who's solution to the problem was to cuddle me, and that was the Assistant Stage Manager, who i'd held a grudge against for months because he said he didn't like my Eagles Of Death Metal T-shirt.
Every couple's "How We Got Together" story is stupid, filled with little insignificant details, that make people regret they asked for. But that's what makes them believable.
So if Alice and Joseph met because Joseph worked behind a bar, and Alice went in there one night and they just got talking, it's more believable because it's boring. But does that make for good writing?
As for love scenes themselves, it's all too easy for Jo to say in a deep baritone "come over here baby, i'm going to give you a back rub." But does that actually happen?
Basically what i'm trying to say is that i'm stuck. I don't know how to make this couple convincing without making them sound like they're in a 70's porn film. And what i'm lacking is those daft little things we say to eachother when we're in love. The silly little games and conversations you have that you find hilarious, but others find repulsive.
So should i even put them in? Do i want my readers to cringe? I dont think so.
I tell you what. This writing malarkey is much harder than people make out!!!
Ahh oh so very good once again, it was worth the wait I feel :) ... You make a very good point, Real life is dull, it needs a twist on it to make it interesting, Which is why Naturalism is so hard, if not Impossible to succeed in practice, because no one would want to see it!
ReplyDeleteVery good :D
What? have you forgiven him for the Eagles Of Death Metal T-shirt then? You could harvest some 'silly little games and conversations' from people and then shamelessly exploit the least repulsive? (I'll tell you my magpie story when I see you - very long & tedious). Thomas Mann said 'A writer is someone for whom writing is harder than it is for other people.' So we're sorted. What kind of ponce am I for quoting that? x
ReplyDelete> 'it's all too easy for Jo to say in a deep baritone "come over here baby, i'm going to give you a back rub." But does that actually happen?
ReplyDeleteNo.
Should it?
Yes.
Seriously, (although I was being serious then too...) writing the sexy-time is not easy. It's made worse by things like the annual Bad Sex Writing Awards... which threaten to make an earnest writer infamous for the rest of their careers (Although Alan T deserved it...)
Have you read 'My Immortal' An allegedly true blog by a teen goth who fancies the lead singer from My Chemical Romance and writes about seducing him by casting him as Draco in a Harry Potter world... oh yes.
One thought - what about a 'we-got-together' story based on activities the protagonists might consider boring and everyday, but the readers wouldn't necessarily. e.g. Working in an ice-cream van, shopping for a bra, unblocking the gutters... When I say the readers wouldn't necessarily find it boring, well... that all comes into the depiction, I suppose! ;-)
Moll